[TVR] Goth music and culture come together at The Crypt, Mission Row's most singular Nightclub

[Lurleen]

---

Goth music and culture come together at The Crypt, Mission Row's most singular Nightclub

By Raoul DeSavio

---

---

 

A roar comes across the road. It is nothing new to this city, but each time is less comparable to the last. An engine rumbles with each gear shift sending out waves of splendid vibrations down the nearby sidewalks. Oh! To be a pedestrian standing on the corner at this time. A fleeting moment of stimulation that’d only leave you longing for more. Some teasing flash of mechanical brilliance that would have you terrified of standing on these streets because your mind kept trying to figure out just what screamed into existence long enough to startle your sleeping ears to hear. Those of us inside the cabin of this rocketship, this Hellfire, were above such thoughts. We were campaigning with a better purpose during this time while the pulsating noises of American engineering thumped and throbbed with more force than any wall of speakers aligned in a club. In these moments you realize tearing ass down a street at max speed while hitting turns with reckless regard for life or asphalt leads to a disconnect far greater than any night on a dancefloor. This is what rattled around in my mind as we slid into a parking lot. Equilibrium would eventually catch up as I peeled myself out of the seat and set a tingling foot onto the ground. I could already hear the muffled pounding of The Crypt’s sinister playlist, and part of me wondered if I was about to go mad trying to focus on writing a fair review after all.

 

On the other side of the parking lot sits what one could assume was a storied grocery store that had been around since before the area was known as Mission Row. An ominous red glow blankets the entrance to this club which sits in an alleyway and during my visit was currently being occupied by bikers trying to get inside. My technical advisor and owner of the black Bravado that brought us here, Larissa, shared the same same uneasy vibe as me until Lin darted out of the madness to usher us through the door. Quickly, before violence broke out. Later I learned they were too bothered to show their IDs and decided to opt on the Angel side of MC actions. On the other side of the gaping, gothic doors you’re immediately pelted with an intense industrial ambience. A far cry from the clean, modern or slick nightclubs you’d find in Vinewood. Here wire mesh and warehouse railing separates the VIP rooms from the rest (One even complete with its own arcade) and the main floor below gives way to something far more victorian. Closed caskets act as barriers and tables in the lounge where the railing that borders the dance floor looks like something stolen from 0001 Cemetery Lane itself.

 

“Let’s drive forever, let’s drive forever…”

 

It is here where the hypnotic dance music weaves through the crowd. Slicing through groups with a dark energy, though, the glum subject matter does little to hamper anyone’s spirits as the entirety of the room rides a confident wave. Which is easy. You have little to fear in regards to violence or horrible drama so long as The Crypt’s owner circles through her property like with hawkish precision. There is a safety here that allows for a righteously comfortable vibe. The crowd can express themselves beyond the gloomy trance and wave music that hammers your brain into a peculiar mood and it’s all a carefully crafted playlist from Eva Blackwood herself, with the likes of Boy Harsher, KMFDM, The Sisters of Mercy, Nosferatu and She Past Away. We experienced an entire subculture’s history in one night. One single, elegantly guided tour through melancholy and darkness.

 

The freedom of expressing one’s self has always been the driving force of any subculture and the Goth scene overwhelmingly runs off with the notion, seeing it blossom as the mutant lovechild of Punk and Glam. Rebellious expression meets glam’s vaudeville and dipped in a thick black paste. Add a synthesizer, a couple of sad New Wave kids and you end up with Darkwave. Any true Goth will be quick to explain that it started with the music, despite the pioneers of the genre’s best wishes, it rushed to expand from song to fashion, lifestyle and art. You see all of this culminate spectacularly as culture and music comes together on Friday nights to spend at least a few hours free from the fear and loathings that blanket the rest of this city. A jubilant, disassociated crowd with face paint and clothing that directly counters the faces and facades one finds in a neatly packaged Vinewood club.

 

Signing Off, Raoul DeSalvo

 

> Comments are enabled

 

Username: 

Comment:

[ChromaticDeath]

Username: Countess

Comment: Thank you Raoul, very cool.

[Engelbert]

Username: SantaMuerte664

Comment: I must say, I am not into clubbing, but I always find some time to come there, when I am in town.

[charles]

Username: deonteplaya

Comment: 

 

 

shit if any of yall got the owners digits, holler at a nigga freal, imma show shorty what a real freak does 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈🤣🤣🤣🤣💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💀

 

 

my review can be found here nigga

 

**A disguised link would be placed below, once clicking it - the user would be sent to a mix tape on Soundcloud. It’s horrible. **

Edited July 31, 2021 by charles

[Dislord]

Username: TheFatNargodian

Comment: hello if you are reading this friend from may 12th 2021 you stole my heart and swallowed my seed. email me.